As we head towards the end of the year, we are closing in on several high-profile video game releases. Starting with September, we’re going to list down all the highly anticipated games that are going to release in the current month. In this month, there are some games that are continuing its legacy of the franchise whereas some of them are entering new gaming platforms.

Borderlands 3 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Gears 5

The sixth game from the franchise, Gears 5 continues from the 2016 Gears of War 4 game. Developed by The Coalition and published by Xbox Game Studios. This time, the game is going to focus on Kait Diaz who’s an Outsider of Locust descent, rather than JD Fenix. She has to search for her family and the origin of the Locust. Delmont Walker and JD’s father Marcus Fenix will be joining her quest. Apart from PC and Xbox One, Gears 5 will also be available in the Xbox Game Pass starting from 6 September.

Platform: PC, Xbox One

Release date: 10 September

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

Iceborne is an expansion coming to the Monster Hunter: World franchise that will add new hunting areas, monsters, quests and additional story content. Capcom said that this will be the only expansion of the game since it continues and ends the story of the original Monster Hunter: World’s tale. Iceborne will land on consoles including the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One first and then release on PC in January 2020.

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Release date: 6 September

Borderlands 3

Probably the most hyped game in this list, the next chapter of Borderlands is continuing the mayhem with new characters or should we say Vault Hunters, weapons, environment, gameplay mechanics and much more. It continues the co-op gameplay and this time there are several locations showcased. It’s probably set in Pandora but we will be exploring deserts, metropolises and swamps on other planets or moons. The extensive roster of guns has been raised to around a billion guns. Broadly, Borderlands 3 looks quite similar to the previous Borderlands 2 game. That’s a good thing considering how good the previous game was. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, right? When we say that the game felt similar to Borderlands 2, we mean that the humorous writing has also been continued in this one too. From the playable character to the non-playable characters (NPCs), most of the characters have been given their own personality and a sort of humour rating.

Platform: Google Stadia (TBA), PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Release date: 13 September

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep

Shadowkeep is Destiny 2’s biggest standalone expansion yet. This won’t require players to have any previous expansion installed. It will bring players back to the moon and Eris Morn is being suggested to be an important character in the expansion. Game studio Bungie announced that Activision would no longer be publishing Destiny 2 on PC. So the game is now leaving Battle.net to find a new home on Steam. Existing players will be able to migrate all their progress to the new platform easily.

Platform: Google Stadia (TBA), PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Release date: 17 September

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

A remake of the 1993 classic game made for the Game Boy, Link’s Awakening will bring in retro-modern art that will stay true to the original while retaining its top-down perspective. After Link is on Koholint island searching for eight magical instruments while solving puzzles and getting into boss fights. It comes with a new dungeon editor feature called Chamber Dungeons. Players will unlock pre-built dungeon rooms and they can later explore them to earn extra rewards.

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Release date: 20 September

FIFA 20

The latest iteration of the FIFA franchise brings in several updates by developing a new ‘football intelligence’ system. Its primary goal is to improve the AI whether it’s on-the-ball or off-the-ball behaviour. Gamers will now be able to do better on-target goal shots and finishes. Dribbling, free kicks, penalties and tackling will have more control and it will feel more realistic. Volta is going to follow a story mode where gamers can play in an online league and try to not get relegated. Kick Off games allow professional players to be chosen for quick matches. Volta World is a feature where gamers can build a squad of players. For now, the arenas include an underpass in Amsterdam, a neighbourhood cage in London and Tokyo rooftop. Several player customisations are present in the game such as tweaking the shirts, boots, shorts, sweaters and other items.

Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Release date: 27 September

Ori and the Blind Forest

Developed by Moon Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest is the story of Ori who’s a white guardian spirit tasked to save the forest of Nibel from a dark force. It’s an adventure-platformer game where players have to solve puzzles to progress. The game was published by Microsoft Studios and it’s finally coming to Switch. A sequel named Ori and the Will of the Wisps is currently under development with a scheduled release of February 2020.

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Release date: 27 September

If you thought the month of September was overloaded with game releases, wait until you see the launch calendar for October and November (especially this one).